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Smarthotel Forus – reviews, photos

3.0 of 5
Luramyrveien 12, Sandnes 4313, Norway
Hotel amenities
Smarthotel Forus
Ranked #3 of 8 hotels in Sandnes
4.0 of 5 stars 50 Reviews
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50 reviews from our community

    Trip type
Traveller rating
    11
    29
    6
    3
    1
Date Rating
Oslo, Norway
Senior Contributor
41 reviews 41 reviews
Reviews in 22 cities Reviews in 22 cities
26 helpful votes 26 helpful votes
“Great value for the business or budget traveller”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 24 October 2011

I stayed 2 nights here, and would definitely stay here again for business trips. For a leisure trip, I would probably want to stay closer to downtown Stavanger. However, if you are on a budget, this is really a great value, and there are buses that will take you into town.

Check-in was a little slow, but if you have a Smarhotel reference number, it seems like you can check yourself in at a kiosk.

The rooms are small, but clean and modern. The bed was very comfortable. I am glad that the duvet was warm, because the room was a little on the chilly side, and there seemed to be no thermostat to control the heater in the room. If you get a double bed, you will be sacrificing the desk, so that is something to consider if you need some workspace in the room. I liked that they provided free Wi-Fi connection.

Breakfast was fine for me. They provide the usual Scandinavian fare of bread, cheeses and meats. They also had yogurt and cereal. If you are looking for an extravagant breakfast with made to order food, this is not the place.

The location is convenient for many business travellers, and is near a shopping mall "Kvadrat" with several dining options, which is where I would eat dinner instead of at the hotel.

  • Stayed October 2011, travelled on business
    • 5 of 5 stars Value
    • 4 of 5 stars Location
    • 4 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 4 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 3 of 5 stars Service
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Ask GinNorway about Smarthotel Forus
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Norway
Contributor
11 reviews 11 reviews
Reviews in 8 cities Reviews in 8 cities
18 helpful votes 18 helpful votes
“Clean, modern, good value”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 14 October 2011

The Smart Hotel is conveniently located close to the Forus area. Rooms are veeery small, but nice, modern and clean. Food is limited to an OK breakfast, soup of the day and microwave meals. Smart cars are rented out at Ok prices. All in all - if what you want is a good night's sleep, but not more than that - the the Smart hotel is perfect. They have a fancy new website, but unfortunately it is totally useless compared with the old .

  • Stayed October 2011, travelled on business
    • 4 of 5 stars Value
    • 4 of 5 stars Location
    • 5 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 3 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 4 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 3 of 5 stars Service
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Ask Aimar45 about Smarthotel Forus
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Bergen, Norway
1 review
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
“Worst business hotel ever!!”
1 of 5 stars Reviewed 11 October 2011
1
person found this review helpful

Room extremely small, uncomfortable, without many services, poor canteen. For the same money you can book a great B&B in town.
The lady in the frontdesk behaves like some sort of robot. She could not be more helpless and careless.
If you wanna have food, the only choice you get is a bunch of prepacked microwave meals.

Room Tip: From the beginning check what kind of room you are getting. Standard rooms are very poor. Although i...
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  • Stayed October 2011, travelled on business
    • 1 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Location
    • 1 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 1 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 3 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 1 of 5 stars Service
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Ask vikmaychib about Smarthotel Forus
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Scotland
Top Contributor
143 reviews 143 reviews
Reviews in 74 cities Reviews in 74 cities
119 helpful votes 119 helpful votes
“Claustrophobic rooms, over-priced, similar to a youth hostel.”
2 of 5 stars Reviewed 13 May 2011

I booked this hotel because it was within walking distance of work and I wanted to avoid very expensive taxi fares in and out of Stavanger. The location is within a retail / industrial area with ample parking and a dedicated (pricey) taxi service. The lobby is airy and bright but the reception isn't signposted and looks like a supermarket till point. There is a spacious self-service, self-pay cafe area. The room was uncomfortably small. I am glad I booked a double because I would have hated to see what size a single room would have been; two very small single beds pushed together with equally small duvets and no space on one side for a bedside table. The bed took up the most of the room space, itreally was claustrphobic.
The website boasts soundproofing; I could hear the man in the next room snoring as loudly as though he were under my bed. The website boasts blackout blinds, again this is a misconception. To access the blinds means you have to clamber up onto the bed, because the window is out of reach otherwise.
The ensuite was very small also, a shower, wc and sink. Everything was covered in a fine layer of dust all the time, even my laptop was dusty in the morning.
The TV has a few channels but if you want to watch anything other then BBC world news in English there is a supplement.
The cafe has a limited choice of breads and a soup to choose from, or there is a pizzeria nearby and if you order delivery the hotel will pay the cost and add it to your roombill - and the pizzeria will deliver to yourt room, not just to reception.
My overall opinion of this hotel is that the rooms were too small to be feasible and there was a general sense of 'youth hostel' about it, despite the cost. I wouldn't stay here again but if you're travelling on a budget and need to be in the rather dull Forus area of Stavanger, I suppose this would suffice.

  • Stayed April 2011, travelled on business
    • 2 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Location
    • 3 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 1 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 3 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 3 of 5 stars Service
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Ask mckaykarenj about Smarthotel Forus
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Houston, TX
Top Contributor
55 reviews 55 reviews
Reviews in 39 cities Reviews in 39 cities
456 helpful votes 456 helpful votes
“One of the few deals you’ll find in Stavanger”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 25 December 2010
2
people found this review helpful

I spent 2 nights at the Smarthotel from December 15th to 17th while in town for business. If you are looking for a clean, economical option in Stavanger, especially if you are visiting the Forus area, this is an excellent option for you.

Room: I would best describe my room (#415) efficient and functional. My single had a twin bed (comfortable mattress with a good duvet to keep warm), a small desk with free hard wired internet connection, and mid-size flat screen TV (approximately 8-10 free channels, including a few in English such as BBC World; you could pay for 5-6 more premium channels). There was no closet, instead the hotel provided a half dozen hooks (and a few hangers) to hang clothes and jackets. The bathroom was a small pod featuring a very small shower stall, toilet, and small sink. The room was approximately 10’ by 10’ if I had to guess – not overwhelmingly claustrophobic for one person for a few nights however if you need more space, this might not be the hotel for you.
The price was SUPER for Stavanger at only 629 NOK per night (approximately $105 USD). I’ve paid 2 ½ times that for virtually the same room in downtown Stavanger.

Food: The hotel offers self-service food throughout the day (i.e. prepackaged stuff that you can heat up). Breakfast is 85 NOK per day and features breads, juices, cereal, coffee, yogurt, etc. It’s a basic Continental breakfast. I thought it was slightly overpriced at roughly $14 USD per day however it’s convenient and easy. For lunch or dinner, the Kvadrat shopping mall is directly across the street. Getting in is a little tricky – it’s easiest just to walk up the parking garage auto ramp. However, there are literally dozens of restaurants (fast food, supermarket, table service, etc.) in the mall offering all types of foods and thus I would say the hotel’s offerings would only be an option for late night hunger.

Getting Around: There are some office parks within walking distance of the hotel but more likely than not you’ll need a taxi or rental car to get around. The hotel has a little gadget at the front desk that automatically requests taxis from Sandnes Taxi. Taxis are frankly outrageous in Stavanger (I guess not surprising since a gallon of gas was approximately $8 USD while I was there) and thus you should be prepared to pay if this is your mode of transport. Ordered taxis start at 66 NOK ($11 USD). Expect a trip to the airport to run something in the neighborhood of 225 NOK ($40 USD).

Other: The hotel offers a complimentary ironing room on the first floor for guest use (ask reception for access). All of the front desk folks that I talked to were friendly, helpful, and spoke good English. There are no hair dryers in the bathrooms.

Overall, the Smarthotel was exactly what I needed in Stavanger – clean, functional, and reasonably priced.

  • Stayed December 2010, travelled on business
    • 5 of 5 stars Value
    • 5 of 5 stars Location
    • 5 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 4 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 4 of 5 stars Service
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Ask edleo13 about Smarthotel Forus
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Additional Information about Smarthotel Forus

Luramyrveien 12, Sandnes 4313, Norway
Price range (per night):* INR6,353 - 7,579

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